Last Words
by brokenboyscout
Summary: Ressler goes on the hunt to find Liz. This is a one- shot based on a promt from keenler-mcswarek-girl on tumblr. This prompt was originally for shores-and-life-worlds-away, but I wanted to write my own little story on it. (: (sorry for any mistakes.) WARNING. MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH. I'm rating mature for that reason.


*warning, MAJOR character death.*  
Sorry sorry sorry sorry! Hope ya like it.

He could feel the cold air cut straight through his thin blue FBI issued jacket he had thrown on before going. Aram had gotten a lead on where Elizabeth Keen was, and he'd be damned if he was going to let her get away again. It's been almost three months since he'd last seen her through the Russian Embassy gates. Right after she had hopped over them. After a heart wrenching tell tale through the eyes, the guards dragged her away and ordered the FBI to leave.

Today, he was positive he wasn't gonna let that happen. He led himself, Samar, and the two other field agents through the forest snow. Not far off, there was a lone cabin that had warm lights filtering out of it.

 _That's where she is… My partner._

 _She's not your partner anymore_. He had to mentally scold himself.

As they made their way up to the cabin, he felt as though he was about to break. He didn't want to hurt her. This was his job. Before her, nothing could get in the way of that… Not even Audrey, as many times as she'd beg him.

But time after time, he had broken the rules to protect her. And it had only gotten him heart ache in the end. He felt betrayed… He let her go and she murders a man, a man with great power and resources, right after. He blinked hard at his frustration as the freezing air bit at his cheeks.

"Ressler?" Samar's accented voice pulled him out of his thoughts. She made a suggestive move towards the door indicating it was time for him to give his orders.

He looked at her before turning towards the cabin door again. Liz was just inside here. Grimacing, he put his gloved hand on the dark wood of the cabin before growling out.

"Keen! I know you're in there." He repeated what he said the last time they got a lead.  
"Stand back! We're kicking the door in." He yelled out a warning to her. Then turning to the agents around him, he gave them a nod and they kicked the door open. The agents checked for the inside of the cabin guns raised. Which made Ressler's heart quicken a beat or two at the thought of one of them firing a shot at her.  
"Nobody shoots." He ordered as he looked to see if everyone heard. They nodded their agreement.

It was warm inside and smelt of toast and vanilla. It seemed there was no trace of anyone being there recently though. As he looked around, he saw how spacious it really was. It even had a small flight of stairs which he went up.

The floorboards creaked on the top floor. He noticed the window was open and looked outside to see her figure running towards the trees, leaving a trail of foot prints behind her.

"Shit." He cursed to himself as he opened the window more and jumped out. The force of the fall made him grunt in pain but he could live with it. He ran as fast as his legs allowed, following her imprints in the snow.

"Liz!" He called out her first name, his breath coming out in a perspiration cloud. The name felt foreign even though he had always used it before this whole ordeal. He ran still following the tracks until he could finally see her. But she wasn't running anymore… She was just standing there. Her hands were raised in the air in surrender. He was momentarily confused. Why is she surrendering to me? Doesn't she know I have to arrest her? Maybe she realized she wasn't going to really get anywhere.

"Ressler…" She whispered in awe at the sight of him so close to her. Tears rolled down her pink cheeks as she stepped a little closer. If she were any other criminal, he would have asked her to stop progressing forward. But this was Liz. _His_ Liz. He swallowed hard as she came even closer. He was frozen in place. Watching as the light snow fell around and on her, she stepped so close they were almost touching. He watched her stare up at him, hands still raised until she slowly put her arms down with a questioning glance into his eyes. He noticed the small flecks of snow glistening on her eyelashes. The pink in her cheeks made the blue in her eyes stand out more than ever. Her simple beauty astonished him, especially in this moment. He swallowed hard. He noticed her chin tremble as more tears welled up in her eyes. A few forbidden tears dripped down her face until he noticed he was the one to swipe them away with his thumb. He felt her lean into his touch and he cupped her cheek with one hand in response. She put her small hand over his as she closed her eyes, breathing in his familiar scent. She was suddenly filled with an unexplainable sadness as she looked up into his vibrant blue eyes. She found a world of hurt in them, and her heart broke into two realizing she was the cause of it. She was about to take a chance and wrap her arms around him until something stopped her.

A loud rippling sound that could only be that of a gunshot made everything go into slow motion. One minute he's brushing the tears away from her face, the next she's on the ground. Her crimson red blood already soaked her grey sweater and the snow around her.

There was a ringing in his ears as he looked to see who took the shot. It wasn't anyone from the task force. The cabal? Did he and his teammates unknowingly lead them to her? Without another second passing by, he grabbed his pistol from his holster and took a shot at the man running towards them and watched as the bullet went straight through his head. He dropped down to the ground beside her, picking her up in his arms.

"Keen!" He barked. He cradled her close to his chest as he pushed her hair away from her eyes. "Keen! Keen! … Liz!" Setting her gently down on the ground, he tore his jacket off of himself and onto the gunshot wound near her heart. Whoever that man was tried to kill her. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked down at her. Her eyes fluttered at him as she reached up to wipe his tears away. Her small cold hand touched his cheek as she smiled up at him.

"Ressler… it's okay." She choked out.

"Liz… I'm so sorry." He whispered as he clutched her to his chest again, pressing harder onto her wound gaining a pained whimper from her.

"Help! Somebody call 911!" He yelled out into the stillness. Surely one of his teammates heard the gunshots and came running. But we're are they?

As if on cue, Samar came running towards them.

"Shit! Ressler, what happened!?" She yelped at him.

"The cabal… They followed us here. I killed the one who shot her, there might be more scattered around here. Call 911, now!" He barked out the last sentence.

"Liz... Liz. It's okay. Stay with me." He begged as he dug his face in her new blonde hair. And then he felt her go completely limp in his arms. His head shot up as he checked for a pulse or the warmth of her breath. And found neither.

"No! NO!" He shook Liz slightly. "Don't do this!" He dug his fingernails into the fabric of the backside of her sweater. "Please.." He begged.

No ambulance could get to her fast enough. She died that day..on Decemeber 4th 2015, and took Ressler's last piece of sanity with her.


End file.
